Knotter



April 28, 1942- l F. w. HIGGINS 2,281,290

KNOTTER Filed Dec. e, 1940 @gw-wv l Patented Apr. 28, 1942 UNHTED STATES PATENT GFFICE KNoTTEn Frank William Higgins, Cranston, It. I. Application vDecember 6, 1940, serian No. 368,823

8 Claims.

In Patent No. 2,071,525, granted February 23, 1937, in the names of this applicant and another, a knetter is disclosed comprising a revolving bill with thread guides atopposite sides of it, two of these guides being mounted on an arm supported to swing laterally toward and from the bill. These guides cooperate during the initial knot tying operations to hold the threads in proper relationship for the operation of the bill on them. At a later stage in the knot tying operation the threads are yieldingly gripped by parts en the swinging arm or gate which cooperate with the guides on it so that during such swinging movement they pull up and tighten the knot.

In setting the knetter for operation on threads of different sizes it is necessary to adjust the thread gripping action of these members. And the same problem is presented in some other knotters.

The present invention aims to devise means by which this adjusting operation can be performed with a minimum of time and skill and with a degree of accuracy which has only been obtainable heretofore with a very considerable expenditure of time and the exercise of much judgment.

While the invention will be herein explained as applied to the knetter shown in the patent above designated, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to use with this particular type of knetter.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of those parts of the knetter shown in the patent above referred to with which this invention is more especially concerned;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the inner side of the gate of said knetter showing it equipped with parts embodying this invention;

Fig. 3 is a bottom View of the gate and adjusting 4parts shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing a slightly different application of the invention.

Referring first te Fig. 1 which shows somewhat diagrammatically the more important parts for acting directly on the threads to be tied together, a rotatable knotting bill is shown at I8 associated with thread guides 33 and 34 formed in the plate 28 at one side of the bill. At the oppo- .D il

site side of the bill is the swinging arm er gate 36 abe-ve referred to, including the slide 45 mounted en it, these parts being so shaped as to provide thread guiding slots 41 and 50 which ceoperate with the slots 33 and 34 at the opposite side of the bill in positioning the thread for the initial operation thereon of the bill I8. Springs 60 and 62 are associated with anges 2 and 3, respectively, on the slide l5 to grip the threads at a certain stage of the knot tying process.

All of the parts above mentioned, with the eX- ception of the flanges 2 and 3, are here indicated by the numerals used in referring t0 them in the `patent above designated, and reference should be made to said patent for a complete understanding of the construction and operation of the particular knetter in connection with which the invention is here disclosed.

As explained in the patent, during the final stages of the knot tying process, the arm or gate 36 is swung outwardly, and at this time the slide l5 is pushed forward or toward the left, Fig. 2, thus gripping the threads held in the respective slots 41 and 5U; During this movement the knot is pulled o the bill, the loop including the knot is tightened against the pest 65, and the waste ends of thread are cut olf between the bill and the knot by the scissors 10.

In order to make the instrument operate as desired, the thread held in the slot 41 should be gripped quite rmly during the outward swinging movement of the gate, but the other thread in the slot 50 should be held with considerably less pressure so that it may have a controlled slip. This requires a nice degree of relative adjustment ef the parts 3 and 62, and that adjustment must be changed te suit the requirements of yarns or threads of different sizes. In prior arrangements it has been necessary to make this adjustment largely by the sense of feel and one of the objects of this invention is to devise means operable to make this'adjustment more speedily and far more accurately.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the spring 62 is mounted on a support 4, the base of this spring having a portion a which is bent around the support Il. 'I'hese two parts are secured rigidly together, either actually or functionally, and they are mounted for slidable adjustment backward and forward toward and from the left-hand end of the arm 36. An adjusting screw 5 is threaded through the ange of the support 4. It passes loosely through a hole formed in the iront ange b of the arm 35 and its head is exposed at the front end of said arm. Immediately outside the flange b the screw is provided with a collar c integral with the screw which is held against said flange by the lower end of the spring 60, the latter being secured to the flange by means of a screw 6. Thus the screw 5 is held against axial movement relatively to the arm 36 but it can rotate about its own axis, and such rotative movement will move the spring B2 backward or forward toward or from its cooperating thread gripping member 3. When the spring has been moved into the desired position it may be locked there by tightening the screw 1 which passes through a slot 8 in the arm 36 and is threaded into the support 4.

With this arrangement it is possible to make fine adjustments of the relationship between the parts 3 and 62 quickly and very accurately. Furthermore, minute changes in the width of the space between these parts can be readily observed while the adjustment is being made so that the operator is no longer dependent merely on the sense of feel. Also, since the head of the screw is exposed at an outer surface of the arm, it can be turned with a screw driver while the workman sights through the slot or space between the part-s 3 and 62. This fact contributes materially to the speed and accuracy with which the adjustment can be made.

Essentially the same arrangement, applied to a slightly different construction, is shown in Fig. 4, and the parts there illustrated corresponding to those shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are designated by the same but primed numerals. This arrangement is operated in the same manner as the construction above described.

While I have herein shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes may be made within the spirit and scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill and thread guides cooperating therewith, in combination with parts at one side of said bill relatively movable to yieldingly grip a thread engaged by the bill, and screw threaded means for relatively moving said parts to adjust their thread gripping action.

2. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill and thread guides cooperating therewith, in combination with parts at one side of said bill relatively movable to yieldingly grip a thread engaged by the bill, a support for one of said parts and a screw cooperating with said support to adjust the latter part relatively to its cooperating part.

3. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith, and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination with parts carried by said arm and relatively movable to grip a thread engaged by the bill, and a screw extending lengthwise of said arm and operable to relatively move said parts to adjust their thread gripping action.

4. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith, and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination with parts carried by said arm and relatively movable to grip a thread engaged by the bill, and a screw mounted in said arm for rotation relatively thereto and operable by such rotation to relatively adjust said parts to vary their thread gripping action, the head of said screw being exposed at an outer surface of the afm,

5. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith, and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination with parts carried by said arm and relatively movable to grip a thread engaged by the bill, and a screw mounted in said arm for rotation relatively thereto and operable by such rotation to relatively adjust said parts to vary their thread gripping action, the head of said screw being exposed at the front end surface of said arm.

6. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith, and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination with parts carried by said arm and relatively movable to grip a thread engaged by the bill, a support for one of said parts mounted on said arm for movement relatively thereto, and a screw mounted on said arm and relatively stationary axially with reference to the arm but rotatably associated with said support to adjust it to change its thread-gripping relation to its cooperating part.

7. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith, and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination with parts carried by said arm and relatively movable lengthwise of the arm to grip a thread engaged by the bill, a support for one of said parts mounted on said arm for movement toward and from its cooperating part, a screw mounted on said arm with its head exposed at the front end thereof and threaded through said support and means for holding said screw against axial movement.

8. A knotter of the type including a revolving bill, thread guides cooperating therewith and a swinging arm at one side of said bill, in combination vith parts carried by said arm for yieldingly gripping a thread engaged by the bill, one of said parts having a thread-engaging face and the other including a leaf spring positioned to pinch a thread against said face, a support for said spring mounted on said arm for sliding movement lengthwise thereof, a screw mounted on said arm and relatively stationary axially with reference to the arm but threaded through said support, whereby rotation of said screw moves said support and its spring relatively to said face, the head of said screw being exposed at the front end surface of said arm, and means for locking said support in its various positions of adjustment.

FRANK WTLLIAM HIGGINS. 

